Gingrey: Robotics needs funds

WASHINGTON —- Government has spent billions upon billions to help foster the growth of the Internet, satellite networks —- and more recently, the financial and automobile industries.

Should taxpayers and the government do more to build out the robotics industry too?

Some scientists and lawmakers think maybe so.

Led in part by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), a group of lawmakers is in the early stages of mapping out ways to expand the research, development and use of robotics in the United States before the country loses its lead to foreign competitors, as it did with auto manufacturing and a host of other industries.

“We do not need to get behind the curve on this,” said Marietta’s Gingrey, co-chair of the Congressional Robotics Caucus with Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.). “We don’t want to abdicate this to some other country like China or India.”

The United States is already falling way behind in terms of investment in research and development, according to a new study spearheaded by Georgia Tech.

The European Union, for instance, recently committed more than $550 million to robotics research, on top of hundreds of millions more it has already spent.

Korea has committed to investing $1 billion in robotics technology development over the next decade.

Japan is investing more than $350 million in robotics.

The United States has spent hundreds of millions on robotics too, but almost all of it went to defense projects like unmanned aerial drones and other battlefield equipment, said Henrik Christensen, chairman of the robotics department at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. When defense projects are removed, the government-run National Science Foundation and related research programs have invested only around $50 million in robotics, he estimates.

“The robotics industry was created in the United States in the 1960s but because we weren’t paying attention in the 1970s, we lost some of that to Japan and Europe,” Christensen said. “We still have the leadership in some areas … but the same thing could soon happen there too.”

Of course Tech has much to gain from increased funding for robotics research. The school is one of the country’s biggest and best-known in the field. Gingrey, too, has a vested interest: The former doctor is a Tech graduate.

Last week Christensen and other robotics researchers from around the country descended on Washington to meet with Gingrey’s group and other lawmakers to present a “Robotics Roadmap” for the 21st century.

The group identified several key areas where the United States leads in robotic research that are still ripe for growth. Among them are the manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, medicine production and health care industries. The benefits of expanding robotics in those areas could be substantial, according to the group.

By using robots to sort and stack goods in their warehouses, for instance, grocery stores —- and the country, for that matter —- could trim 5 percent off the cost of food, Christensen said.

By using doctor-controlled robotic surgical tools in the operating room, the country could improve its health care system and possibly save some lives in the process.

“Think about something like heart surgery,” Christensen said. “A robot could compensate for the hand tremors of a surgeon.”

Oddly enough for an industry created to replace more expensive human labor, the robotics industry is now positioning itself as a potential job producer.

“The real threat to employment in this country is that all the manufacturing is going elsewhere,” said Jeffrey Burnstein, president of the Robotic Industries Association, a trade group. “We believe companies would be better off automating and keeping their manufacturing in the U.S. instead of sending their manufacturing overseas.”

A prevalent problem is most cash-strapped companies aren’t investing in much of anything these days.

Orders for industrial robots fell by 31 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier, according to Burnstein’s group. Last year, orders declined 21 percent.

Christensen and the other 140 or so robotics researchers who presented their “Robotics Roadmap” study to Washington lawmakers last week aren’t specifically asking for the government money to develop and roll out more robots —- at least not yet. But that’s certainly something they would like to see.

“Right now the country is spending a lot of money on the car industry but I don’t think the car industry is going to generate significant growth in the future,” Christensen said. “Why are we fixing industries that are broken today instead of investing in the industries we can have five or 10 years from now?”

Of course with government spending already reaching new highs, that probably won’t happen anytime soon. Even so, Gingrey and other robotics boosters say they’re setting the groundwork for the future.

“It’s an awareness thing,” Gingrey said. “You have to make sure [other members of Congress] know about this, so when it comes time for funding, you can do everything you can to move that forward.”